During November, Catholic churches everywhere are presenting a Book of the Dead for people to write down the names of loved ones that have passed away. Maggie Cahill, chaplain of the Interfaith Chapel at UMB, has constructed a Symbolic Altar of God as an extension of this November tradition.
Everyone is welcome to pray at the altar or add entries to the Book of the Dead. The altar itself is circular to symbolize that God has no beginning and no end. It looks something like a wedding cake with a bottom and top layer. The bottom layer holds many symbolic objects such as shells, sand, starfish, rosebuds, petals, rocks, prayers, and literature. These objects may be placed on the top layer to be offered to God. Cahill used the word “symbolic” to describe the altar because, “It’s a way to give form to the formless-the experience of grief is formless.”
Friday, October 31, Cahill led an All Saints Day Vigil in the chapel. A rose representing late UMB professor Rusty Simonds was offered to God on behalf of the UMB community. “He was a man of many layers, as a rose is, and the good that he created in his relationships was seen and unseen, just as the layers in a rose,” Cahill explained.
One student at the vigil offered sand to represent a spiritual journey to Israel in remembrance of her mother. Her mother always wanted to visit Israel, but was never able to make the trip. The sand was a symbol of Israel’s desert, and her way to remember her mother.
As the Muslim community celebrates Ramadan, Christians are about to begin Advent. Western culture is beginning the holiday season and people are up to their ears with details to remember in their preparations.
The holiday season can be a time of emotional complexity when people may be a bit more vulnerable to deaths, broken relationships, or drastic changes in their lives. The altar can make for a soothing place to take some time for silent reflection during stressful moments. Cahill explains, “It may sound odd, but one symptom of our contemporary lives is that we can often be quite out of touch with what is going on in our very own hearts.”
The symbolic Altar of God and the Book of the Dead are both located on the third floor of McCormack at UMB’s Interfaith Chapel in the Ryan Lounge. Interfaith Chapel hours are 9-5 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays; Tuesdays from 10-6; and Fridays from 10-4. All are welcome to visit the chapel and spend some time at the altar, which will be up through the end of November.